Winklepoker
Well-Known Member
As many of you know, Ole Winkley can be a total misery/groucho/self-pitying idiot at times! Well a lot of this rubs off onto my beautiful horse and mostly boils down to a distinct lack of confidence and self belief in my riding ability. I am lucky enough to own a super cool WB who is young, talented and genuine. Long story short, we have had a few issues of late with spooking, rushing off, nappiness and general groucho behaviour, all of which I find myself pandering to and avoiding rather than tackling and working through.
I put us forward for Tarrsteps' offer of 'experiment' horses and she came to see us on Sunday.
We chatted over hot chocolate for a while about her experiences and our goals, before tacking up and going up to the school. Freckles was very obliging as usual and warmed up very nicely for me. We just warmed up as we normally would - with input from TS - she made me feel 100% at ease and everything felt better than ever (I wasnt really doing anything out of the norm at this point) TS then tells me she recognises some pain in his back - which I can quite believe. I am about to send off his saddle for widening because of tightness. TS then climbs aboard and instantly F is tense but only a few steps off and he is happy and accepting of her riding. I have to say (without blowing hot air) TS is one of the BEST riders that I have EVER seen and I felt lucky to have her on my horse. She removed his noseband, as this provides him with the ability to open and relax his jaw with yawning etc. which I have to say, he seemed to be grateful for.
TS had noticed a typical way that he stands and distributes weight onto his left side meaning, shoulder and neck muscles are much bigger and uneven. She stood him square in the school and to the untrained eye, did very little indeed but the horse shifted his weight and he got a pat and moved off - Amazing. She proceeded in W and T and the horse went better than I have ever seen, he was more free through his shoulder, relaxed and not diving onto the forehand like he tends to do. She asked for more forwards movement and corrected instantly the weight transfer onto that left shoulder as it happened.
I had explained that he was beginning to rear with a previous trainer who was good in her own right but F thought other wise and TS used this analogy that I will remember forever -
'Imagine you are being thrown balls - you would go to catch with your dominant hand/arm, strap that dominant arm behind your back and increase the rate and speed of the balls - you would soon get pissed off, dive for cover or evacuate.' It mad so much sense to me and to him it seemed, as he was catching every single ball and if he dropped one, no matter, TS threw the next one slightly slower.
Sorry, I am going on and on and on - I really have had a massive break through, I feel like a RIDER again, I feel that I can produce my young horse and I am more confident than I think I have ever been. From just one morning of enlightenment - I have total and utter confidence restored, I rode last night in the howling wind and he was different, the movement he created was ENORMOUS (usually big anyways) he felt free through the shoulder, I practiced with the weight transfer and put him into trot - WOW!
I have NEVER felt so magnificent on a horse, never so confident and able and I owe it all to Tarrsteps.
PS - She has no idea how I felt really, nor has she paid me to say it
I will never ever ride with the 'feel and intuneness' that TS has but I certainly feel like I am on top of the world - Me and my boy together!
Earl Grey and a Banana for those who made it to the end
Oh and as i was so engrossed I didnt take any pictures but here is the transformation over the last 7 months of having him -
I put us forward for Tarrsteps' offer of 'experiment' horses and she came to see us on Sunday.
We chatted over hot chocolate for a while about her experiences and our goals, before tacking up and going up to the school. Freckles was very obliging as usual and warmed up very nicely for me. We just warmed up as we normally would - with input from TS - she made me feel 100% at ease and everything felt better than ever (I wasnt really doing anything out of the norm at this point) TS then tells me she recognises some pain in his back - which I can quite believe. I am about to send off his saddle for widening because of tightness. TS then climbs aboard and instantly F is tense but only a few steps off and he is happy and accepting of her riding. I have to say (without blowing hot air) TS is one of the BEST riders that I have EVER seen and I felt lucky to have her on my horse. She removed his noseband, as this provides him with the ability to open and relax his jaw with yawning etc. which I have to say, he seemed to be grateful for.
TS had noticed a typical way that he stands and distributes weight onto his left side meaning, shoulder and neck muscles are much bigger and uneven. She stood him square in the school and to the untrained eye, did very little indeed but the horse shifted his weight and he got a pat and moved off - Amazing. She proceeded in W and T and the horse went better than I have ever seen, he was more free through his shoulder, relaxed and not diving onto the forehand like he tends to do. She asked for more forwards movement and corrected instantly the weight transfer onto that left shoulder as it happened.
I had explained that he was beginning to rear with a previous trainer who was good in her own right but F thought other wise and TS used this analogy that I will remember forever -
'Imagine you are being thrown balls - you would go to catch with your dominant hand/arm, strap that dominant arm behind your back and increase the rate and speed of the balls - you would soon get pissed off, dive for cover or evacuate.' It mad so much sense to me and to him it seemed, as he was catching every single ball and if he dropped one, no matter, TS threw the next one slightly slower.
Sorry, I am going on and on and on - I really have had a massive break through, I feel like a RIDER again, I feel that I can produce my young horse and I am more confident than I think I have ever been. From just one morning of enlightenment - I have total and utter confidence restored, I rode last night in the howling wind and he was different, the movement he created was ENORMOUS (usually big anyways) he felt free through the shoulder, I practiced with the weight transfer and put him into trot - WOW!
I have NEVER felt so magnificent on a horse, never so confident and able and I owe it all to Tarrsteps.
PS - She has no idea how I felt really, nor has she paid me to say it
I will never ever ride with the 'feel and intuneness' that TS has but I certainly feel like I am on top of the world - Me and my boy together! Earl Grey and a Banana for those who made it to the end
Oh and as i was so engrossed I didnt take any pictures but here is the transformation over the last 7 months of having him -
Anyone up north? 
